First swim safari of 2012

Paps of Jura in the background

Lottie decided it was high time we had a swim safari and, with a good forecast, it was planned for today. Three members of the Sound of Jura Swimming Club took part – Duggie as cameraman, Lottie as stunt swimmer and myself as comedy turn. Three large doggie members were left at home, since they could not promise to behave. One very tiny doggie member is recovering from a minor operation. Therefore only humans took part today.

The plan was to wear wetsuits and to hike to the outer point and swim from there along the coast, with Duggie using his underwater video camera. Oddly we found it very cold on the hands at first, since the shock of the cold water was concentrated on them and not spread across the entire body. We performed various manoeuvres for the camera involving swim pasts, dives and jumps and eagerly await the video once it emerges from Duggie’s editing suite.

The safari took us along the rocky coast, in dark green water, into various inlets and coves, where the kelp gently undulated and little shrimps skited past Lottie’s goggles.

Once ashore and changed, there was great hilarity at my outfit, which comprised a motley assortment of different coloured garments from brown spotted welliebobs to a bright pink kagoul and topped off with a huge blue towelling changing robe worn as a skirt. I found this extra layer very warming but the others thought I looked daft.

The foodstuffs were freshly baked chocolate muffins but we didn’t tell the doggies about those…

Scots translation:

skite [skəit]v. To dart, to shoot, fly through the air suddenly and forcibly, to bounce or fly off at a tangent. To slip, slither or slide on a slippery surface.

This site is about my new Anglo-Israeli, yet-to-be-published novel, Night Swimming in the Jordan. It's also about both night and day swimming in the seas and rivers of Devon, England, where I have lived for 25 years.

Wild swimming or outdoor swimming in rivers, lakes, lidos and sea is a sport that is regaining popularity in the UK. This page highlights news items that illustrate the popularity and growth of wild swimming as well as comparing attitudes in the UK with those aboard.